Pitch planned for Patton Homestead future

Tuesday

The Patton Homestead, located at 650 Asbury St., Hamilton, has had a contentious existence since Hamilton voters agreed to accept the parcel as a gift at Town Meeting in 2012.

Now, however, groups supportive of the homestead’s development and town government are readying to unveil a modernization of the homestead itself, as well as future plan for growth, at the Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 20.

Patton Homestead Inc. President Carin Kale and Town Manager Michael Lombardo, in separate interviews with the Chronicle, both spoke excitedly of the upcoming presentation, noting it should help jump start discussion of the estate.

“Things have been taking off like a rocket,” Kale said. “Now that we have an architect on board, (people) respond in a different way.”

Specifically, the town selected an architect last fall, Spencer and Vogt Group, after soliciting proposals over the late summer. Kale said the architect is specifically working on the “phase one” of modernization, primarily improving handicapped accessibility to the homestead building, as well as readying the property home’s interior for public use.

Kale said the specific uses of the building itself still remain in flux, but a focus would be on providing the Hamilton community a common use space for mandatory needs, like municipal meeting space, as well as the ability to rent the buildings and grounds for family programs and the like.

The new uses, however, won’t come entirely free to the town.

Patton Homestead Inc., a non-profit established to allow fundraising for homestead, applied this year for $200,000 from the town’s Community Preservation Account to assist the renovation.

The Community Preservation Committee voted 5-0 in favor of the application, with one abstention. Town Meeting voters will have the final say on April 7.

Additionally, the non-profit has begun applying to a variety of state grants to help fund the project.

All told, both Kale and Lombardo estimate phase one to cost around $850,000 to $1 million to complete, but Kale felt the combination of grants, existing funds for the homestead’s development, and the CPC application should cover a majority of the cost.

Lombardo said the town is also looking into alternative property management options for the homestead rather than a part-time director out of the gate, which the town previously sought last year.

Lombardo added the process has taken several years, due to personnel bottlenecks throughout the process, but noted the non-profit and town seem to be making progress on opening the estate to the public-at-large in the coming years.

“It’s a capacity issue,” he said. “We created our non-profit, but it’s a capacity thing for them too … but now we have the pieces in place.”

Town history with the Homestead

Town Meeting in the spring of 2012 voted unanimously to accept the donation of the property by Joanne Patton, wife of the late Major General George S. Patton.

The gift included the home, stables, and 27 acres, with the stipulation that a majority of the property remains open for public use.

The donation agreement did allow the town to sell off four acres to a private developer, which Town Meeting in 2014 similarly supported.

The town sold those acres to developer C.P. Berry for $1.15 million to develop 12 condominiums exclusively for individuals aged 55 or older.

The sale payment was divided by the town in several ways: $156,000 was set aside for town’s Affordable Housing Trust and $250,000 was earmarked for the care and upkeep of the homestead itself. The remaining $750,000 was split with $500,000 towards a stabilization fund for the town’s recreational fields and $250,000 into the town’s coffers.

At the annual Town Meeting of 2017, voters agreed to support a new structure to the town’s finances allowing any funds dedicated to the homestead to be placed in a new account separate from the town’s general budget.

Later in 2017, the Planning Board approved a new gravel parking lot at the homestead, which was designed and built through the town’s Department of Public Works.